


Ink

by Current521



Category: The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe, Cute, F/M, It has a happy ending which we love and appreciate in this here house, Sam is nicer in this than he is in most of my stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22068166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Current521/pseuds/Current521
Summary: Charlotte sees old words from a new sender. Ted has words all over, but none like this.
Relationships: Charlotte/Ted (The Guy Who Didn't Like Musicals)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 35





	Ink

**Author's Note:**

> So I saw a concept where it's like, everything that is thought about a person appears on their skin like tattoos, and I thought, what a fun concept for my favourite couple. And then I made it happy, because they deserve happiness.

Since the age of 18, Charlotte has had the words  _ I’m in love with you _ written on her collarbone, never completely fading. Sam’s thoughts, she knows, and she married him, and the words stayed.

Now she’s 34 and they’ve been faded for a few years. There are other thoughts from him, some good and some bad, but those words are gone. She checks her whole body regularly to see if they might have moved, but they’re never there. She sees on his arm, where it’s been for 16 years, the words  _ I love you _ , and she still thinks it a lot. She also says it a lot, and he usually either smiles and kisses her or says it back. But the ink doesn’t lie, and she knows.

* * *

Ted has words pretty much everywhere on his skin, because he is the kind of person who invites thoughts, invites judgment, invites ink. Words like  _ jerk _ and  _ asshole _ snake up his arms,  _ horny bastard  _ and orders like  _ fuck off _ line his ribs. He’s proud of every single one, almost more so than the  _ thank you _ s and  _ you’re a good brother _ that show up in between. His little sister is the only one in his family he talks to, and that’s just fine, but he doesn’t necessarily deserve her admiration. Some of the  _ thank you _ s are from her, he thinks, some might be from service workers he wasn’t as cruel to as he could’ve been, but most of them are from colleagues who don’t mean it, but think it anyway, because it’s polite.

* * *

Charlotte knows that having an affair is dangerous business, knows that it only takes one day of not being careful enough to slip up. Let Sam see the words that dot her skin now, words not from him, words like  _ fuck you’re beautiful _ and  _ hot _ . Words that she shouldn’t appreciate as much as she does.

And then one day she sees it, on her lower leg. Words she hasn’t seen in years.  _ I’m in love with you _ . And maybe she’s delusional, but she stops seeing Ted for a while, because it must mean that Sam is in love with her again. But although the  _ I love you _ on his arm fades slower than it used to, none of his behaviour suggests that he’s the cause of the new words on her leg, still as solid as the day she noticed.

* * *

There is no reason for Ted to keep coming back to Charlotte. He’s in love with her, and he doesn’t deserve her, but it doesn’t matter, because she doesn’t feel the same way. He knows, because he’s seen the  _ I’m in love with you _ on her leg, and he knows it’s from him, refuses to believe it’s from Sam, and he doesn’t have anything matching. He has words from her, equal parts insults and sex and friendly gratitude, but nothing romantic, nothing that suggests as strong an involvement as he has.

He goes to see his sister one Saturday, and goes home to fuck Charlotte afterwards, still only noon. She’s the one who notices.

* * *

Ted’s bed shouldn’t feel as safe as it does, but there’s no place Charlotte would rather be. She has her head on his chest, and that’s when she notices. “Someone loves you,” she says, tracing the words on his chest.

“Oh.” He looks. “That’s new.” He smiles at her. “Who do you think it’s from?”   
“I don’t know.” She suspects it might be from her, but she doesn’t want to admit that. “Maybe your family? Your sister?”   
“I guess it could be.” His voice has dropped to a neutral tone, but he kisses her hair. “I thought… Hoped maybe… It’s stupid.”   
“What?”   
“I thought it was from you.”

* * *

Of course it isn’t from her, of course it’s from his sister, of course it’s a response to him telling her that he’ll sneak her out for that concert she wants to go to but isn’t allowed, that he’ll deal with the fallout for her. Of course it’s just that, of course it isn’t Charlotte.

He texts her anyway.  _ I love you, you know. That’s from me. _ He might as well admit to it, now that he’s already halfway told her.

He doesn’t wait for her response, just turns his phone off and watches TV and ignores the outside world for the rest of the day. A bottle of wine helps, but not enough. He goes to bed in the late afternoon, missing Charlotte.

* * *

So maybe Sam doesn’t love her as much as she wants him to, Charlotte thinks, when she spends three minutes trying to get him to sit down and talk to her, and he acts dismissive. She checks her phone; Ted has texted her, and that more than anything breaks her resolve. “Nevermind then. I think I know the answer.”   
That makes Sam turn to look at her. “No, Char, I’m sorry, what did you—”   
“You don’t love me.” She goes to the hall and begins lacing up her boots. “It’s been a few years, hasn’t it?”   
He nods. “Where are you going?”   
“Out.” She grabs her coat. “I’ll be back tonight. I love you.”   
“I…” He shakes his head. “Alright Char.”

* * *

There’s a knock on the door. He’s been lying awake for half an hour, but he puts on pants and goes to answer the door. “Charlotte?”   
“I love you too.” She smiles. “Can I come in?”   
“Sure.” He steps aside and lets her in. “What made you change your mind?”

She grabs him and kisses him, and Ted isn’t about to complain. “I love you,” she whispers, and he smiles.

“I love you too.” It feels awkward for him to say, but it’s true. He looks down at his chest.  _ I love you _ but also other nice words.  _ Thank you _ . “How long do you have?”   
“I told Sam I’d be home tonight, but I didn’t say when.” She kisses him again. “I have time.”

* * *

Charlotte is smiling as she walks home. The whole way; it’s been a good afternoon.

She drops her smile when she comes home. The apartment is emptier than usual, and not just because Sam isn’t there. She walks around; the expensive wine glasses that his parents gave them for their wedding are gone, as is his gun locker. All of his clothes. Both the suitcases. There’s a note of the kitchen table.

_ Charlotte— _

_ I’m sorry, I should’ve left years ago. We’ll figure something out, but for now, keep the apartment; I have a place to stay. I hope you’re happy. _

_ I loved you, _

_ Sam _

She looks at the note for a while, then shrugs. At least he’s not angry, and he’s right. They should’ve gotten a divorce years ago. Now is as good a time as any, even if some part of her wishes that they could’ve fixed things

She calls Ted anyway.

* * *

Charlotte has only been away for about an hour, barely enough for her to get home, when she calls again. Ted picks up.

“Sam and I are getting a divorce.”   
“Oh?” He’s not sure how he’s supposed to react. “Is that good?”   
“I don’t know.” She sounds indifferent. “It means that you and I can be together. He’s left, and I don’t wanna sleep alone tonight. Come over?”

“Of course.” He smiles to himself. “I’ll be right there. I love you.”   
“I love you too.” She hangs up, but not before he hears her blow a kiss into the phone.

He puts on a shirt and drives out. It’s not the first time he’s spent the night at her place, and it won’t be the last, but it’s different. She calls him  _ sweetheart _ now, and he notices it on the back of his hand, seconds later.

He keeps coming back, and after a few weeks, friend becomes lover becomes girlfriend, and Ted is happy.


End file.
